Page 81 of His Sold Fated Mate

Mike was there. The one person I knew she feared the most. The man who was supposed to be dead but was somehow alive. I had questions, hundreds of questions, but no answers to them.

I sped, watching the dial go from sixty to seventy. I pushed harder on the gas, hitting eighty miles an hour. My hands were shaking, and my mind was racing.

I had to get to her in time. I had to. I couldn’t live in a world without her. I refused to. She’d changed my life so much, and I didn’t want to go back. I couldn’t.

I watched trees pass, and I hit ninety miles an hour. My vision zoned in on the road.

Time seemed to slow as her face filled my mind. Her soft amber eyes were always comforting. I could stare into them all day long. And her soft brown hair. I wondered what she used to make it that soft. I loved running my fingers through it and watching her face relax into my arm.

Aubrey was soft, and I had worried about her breaking. But she was strong, too. Aubrey was the perfect half to stand by me. She softened me, but in every good way.

And she fit in this pack more than she knew. I always thought I would want someone who ruled like me, but I was wrong. I wanted Aubrey. I wanted someone who wasn’t scared of me.

I pulled into Riley’s pack and headed straight for City Hall. I shoved the door open and headed inside. I ran to the meeting room, and the council members all jumped up. “Klaus. What are you doing here?”

I looked past them toward the door. I hurried around their table and yanked the door open.

“Klaus!” They yelled after me, but I ignored them, running down the stairs. The smell of rot was pungent and made my stomach curl. I came to a halt when I found Cal lying on the ground face down.

“Cal!”

I jumped over him and shook him. He had a cut on his forehead like someone had hit him with something. There was blood on the ground and his phone, lying next to him.

“Oh, my god.” Jessica gasped as she saw him. “Is he okay?”

“How the hell did you not know he was down here?” I snapped, my anger building. “My Beta is unconscious, and you didn’t even know about it!”

“We didn’t know. We just started that meeting. We didn’t know he was down here.”

I looked down the hallway and saw the door to the cauldron room open. The smell filled the space, and water was seeping into the hallway.

Aubrey.

I pulled Cal up, resting him against the wall. I made sure he was breathing before I stepped away.

“Help him,” I snapped as I headed down the hallway toward the door. I stepped into the room and found Mike lying on the ground. He looked exactly as I remembered. Blood was pooling out of his head, and his body looked pale, like he’d been dead a long time.

I turned my attention to the cauldron that was bubbling furiously. Water curled over the edge like a beating heart. And then I spotted her.

Her hair was moving, and her hands were clawing at the water like someone was holding her down. My eyes widened as I heard her screaming in my head.

Help!

I moved across the room quickly, grabbing at her and yanking her to the surface. She was soaking wet, and her body went limp in my arms. “Aubrey!”

I grabbed her face, patting her cheeks, trying to get her to open her eyes. But her head lagged back, and I wasn’t even sure she was breathing.

“Klaus.”

I turned as Cal wobbled his way into the room. He held his head, the council member standing behind him.

“Why did you guys come here?” I snapped, furious that he didn’t protect her as I asked.

He frowned. “Because… she was searching for an answer. More of the members were losing control, and we were running out of options. She thought…” He shook his head. “I was just outside in the hallway when something struck me from behind. I didn’t leave her.”

I turned back to her and shook her as I bent down, holding her tightly in my arms. I could smell the difference in her now. That sweet scent was gone, and she smelled of a corpse.

“Aubrey, this is not how it ends. It can’t be how it ends for us.” I could feel that darkness seeping over me once more, like claws pulling at my skin. “Aubrey, you’re too good for this. Don’t let them take you. Not when you just got what you wanted. Not after everything you survived.”